If only, A vision of beauty
by Kou-kun
Summary: GAARA/NARU *Chapter 7 uploaded* The Konoha Genin unite for a story about battles between Shinobis, Friendships and Love.
1. Oyasume's House

Disclaimer: I DUN OWN NARUTO! The only character not owned by Kishimoto Masashi in this chapter is Kounouri Oyasume. She is my character, and if in any way she resembles a character created by anyone else or a living person, please notify me. Please dont sue! Me ish broke!   
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Hinata jumped to the next tree, and again, one after another. Following her were Kiba and Shino. The leaves around them barely moved as the used their Chakra to move among the high, leafy canopy. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped. She turned around and saw Kiba, his finger to his lips, pointing downwards. He grinned. There were voices below them, and she looked down.   
"I still think that we should head back, Kakashi-sensei! I'm hungry, and it's about to rain!" Naruto whined and sat down, folding his arms stubbornly. "Nya, and tonight Iruka-sensei was going to buy me Ramen, too!" the Jounin turned around and stared at Naruto, shrugging mildly.   
"Sure, you head back..." he pointed in the direction from which they came. Naruto looked and saw a dark path, and heard the sound of many animals calling and walking.... He looked back up at Kakashi. The sensei continued. "And we'll just keep going towards Oyasume's house. Have a good night, ne?" Even under his cloth mask, Hatake Kakashi was obviously grinning.   
The young boy grumbled and stood up, brushing himself off. It was useless, though, because soon he was on the ground again.   
"Ow! Nyaaa... Who'sh shidding on me? Get oth! get oth! I can't breaf!" Naruto's muffled voice called out, and Kiba stood up. "Yeeha, Kon'ban wa, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun..." he looked down, his voice calming with dislike. "Naruto..."   
Hinata quieted and blushed, helping Naruto up. "G-gomen nasai, N-Naruto-kun...." She said, barely audible. Naruto bounced up and put his hand to his head, laughing. "iie... Hinata-chan, It's okay!" He dusted himself off yet again and walked over to beside his team. Kiba frowned at Naruto, and looked towards Hinata, walking to her. "Nya, Hinata, we should get to business, ne?" She nodded. Shino walked up to the sensei and handed him a letter, written by Hokage-sama. The grey-haired man opened the letter with his kunai and read it, his frown becoming more intense as he went.   
When he finished, he folded the letter and put a jitsu on it, burning the paper in a puff. He looked at the genins of team 8 and nodded, looking back to his own students and gesturing towards the three out-of-place students. "They're coming with us to Oyasume's... We'll have to stay a little longer than intended though." He began to walk, gesturing the genins to follow. Sakura wore a perplexed look and skipped up to her sensei, tugging at his sleeve.   
"What did the letter say??"   
"Mmm.."  
"Nani?"   
"Mmm.." The pink-haired genin gave up and fell behind, disheartened, to beside her teammates. She looked at Sasuke and whispered "What do you think happened?"   
Sasuke rose his black eyes from the ground and stared forward, with his hands in his pockets. "Iya, Sakura, don't be so worriful. It's probably nothing."   
  
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Kounouri Oyasume opened her door, peering out throgh the chain lock. Her eyes fell apon seven ninja, six of which were children. "Nya, Kakashi-san, welcome!" She closed the door enough to undo the lock and opened it again, wide, with a gesture of welcome. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting seven of you. I only made two pots of Ramen...." She pointed to the fire, where two large pots of Ramen were cooking. Naruto's blue eyes shined over and he ran towards the pots, spooning up a gulp of it.   
"Ow! Ow! Ow! My dung! That burnb! My dongue!" He danced around the room, whining, with the spoon still in hand. Sakura walked up to the boy and elbowed him square on the head. He immediately quieted, whimpering "owww.....".   
Meanwhile, Sasuke was looking around at the oddly decorated house. There were pictures on the wall of weapons, hand seals, and newspaper clippings. On the mantle was a series of stands holding rusted Kunais, Shurikens and Double-Kunais. In the middle of this display was a stand holding a deteriorated scroll, with the Kanji for "Fight" written on it. Sasuke walked towards the scroll, intrigued, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Aburame Shino. "Dinner." The boy said, and walked away.   
Sasuke sat down at the table and looked up. His eyes met Sakura's and he was filled with an unusual warmth. He froze for a moment, and then Sakura blushed and looked down again. He began to eat, mumbling "Itadaakimasu".  
Later on, when supper was finished, Sakura, Kiba, and Naruto were assigned the dishes. Oyasume and Shino went out to get wood for the fire and Kakashi stayed with Sasuke and Hinata, who were practicing in behind the house. Sakura stared out the window at Sasuke for a moment and was inturupted by Naruto. "He does like you, y'know... told me himself." He looked at her and smiled a bit, fazed a little because it hurt him to see her love someone else so much.... Kiba went on with the dishes and Sakura stared at Naruto, working it out in her head. She knew that he wouldn't joke like that, because he didn't want her to like someone else.... but... Why would Sasuke tell HIM!?   
"I know, I know, It doesn't seem like him... but when you were above of us talking to Kakashi he said 'I don't want her to worry like that...', so he PRACTICALLY told me." He nodded and grinned, a little meeker than usual.   
" I heard it too. " Kiba spoke and stopped what he was doing for a moment to look out the window. "Yeah, he does like ya, Sakura. And Naruto.." He said this softer than usual, "Hinata really likes you..." It was Naruto's turn to stare in disbelief. When he saw how Kiba looked, he was shocked to see a glimmer of something in his eye... was that.. PAIN!?!   
"Kiba-san! You like Hinata! I KNEW it!" He danced around, seemingly forgetting the angst he had felt a moment earlier. Kiba faltered and kept washing, and when he placed the last dish on the rack and walked outside, he grumbled "Shut up, loser."   
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Kiba stared at Hinata, who had stopped training when the others came out. She was talking quietly to Sakura and blushed every now and then. No doubt the pink-haired girl was telling her all about the events from inside. Naruto was off somewhere along the sidelines of the training, which had become more of a target practice to the wood that Oyasume and Shino brought back. Kiba glanced around and looked upward at the deepening red of the sunset sky. He stood up and walked more towards the forest, climbing up a boulder to sit. He stared continuously up at the sky, which was deepening more. He was inturupted by the sound of someone beside him. He looked over to Hinata, who was looking at him aswell. "Kon'ban wa, Kiba-san!" She spoke a little happier now, lighter... her eyes seemed brighter.. her features, all more beautiful and mild... gentil and yet sharp and strong. Kiba suddenly blushed and looked back up, talking to her subconciously. "So you heard about...inside?"   
The girl looked at him, confused. "No, then..."   
There was a silence as both looked up at the now purple sky. "Beautiful" She whispered. "Yea.." little did SHE know that both were talking about a different subject. A star brightened in the sky, and Kiba mentioned "Make a wish" and jumped down. He walked off and felt a pang of pain as he got farther and farther away from the one he wanted most. Shino and Naruto were talking to each other about something, and yet again Kiba felt that ringing in his ears that told him of their conversation. Sakura was egging Sasuke on, as he repeatedly hit his target dead-on. Over and over. Kakashi watched in approval. Kiba walked more towards the two boys, and finally arrived to hear Naruto say "I'd swear.." Kiba made his presence known and practically yelped "Yeeha, nice night, ne?" The two boys turned around and spoke to him, Naruto asking "Hey, Do you even notice when you have Akamaru on your head?" Kiba remebered the dog and grinned, reaching up and patting the little thing's head. "Not any more, no, the thing hasn't made a move all day, really."  
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Hinata watched him go. He seemed... disheartened, if you wanted to call it that. He was the one that respected her most for her skills, and believed in her. She hated to see him like that. He was walking towards Naruto and Shino. But what had he been saying about "inside"? Naruto looked over at her for a moment and she blushed. She then saw Kiba pat Akamaru and heard his usual call "yeeha!". She looked back at Naruto as he turned back towards his colleagues and sighed quietly. She was the only one who knew what that letter was about... and if they did.. they'd all be as sad as she was. But no, she was always sad.... And... She didn't show her emotions much, except the times when she talked to Naruto. His hair... it was so golden... He was beautiful in every way. He fought for what he believed in. Again, Hinata sighed. Just moments ago, she'd been happier than all day, feeling reassured after talking to Sakura. Kiba even seemed to notice.   
Sakura had talked mostly about Sasuke, and how Naruto had said that he liked her. Although she didn't listen very much, she still felt happy that Sakura-chan was being this nice, like her friend. It was an odd feeling for her, to be noticed.   
Hinata thought back to her conversation with Sakura. She had said that Naruto-kun liked her.... Her being Sakura, of course. Sakura said it with such disgust that it made her look ungreatful to Hinata. Then, Sakura began to talk about Sasuke... and...   
Hinata gasped in slight remembrance and hopped down off the boulder to talk to Kiba. She didn't get very far though, Oyasume shouted and the other ninja looked up, seeing the ANBU team of Sand Country. Kakashi walked up to The leader, talking and frowning, nodding once in a while. He sighed, and looked back to the Ninja.   
"Nani wa.." Simultaneously the genin said under their breath. Hinata caught up to them and asked what was going on. Kiba looked forward in shock and told her the story.   
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A/N- Nyahaha! You get story next Chappy! IF.. and that is IF! you review! It doesn't have to be good, you can dis me because this isn't a very good story in my point of view. Well, I tried to keep everyone in character.. yeah... I am a firm believer in Kiba/Hina and Sasu/Saku, so That's where I got most of the funstuff for this story. My inspiration to write: Utada Hikaru - Final Distance. I might throw in some Naru/? drama later.. I don't know who to pair him with. Yeah, Oyasume DOES get a big part in this story and I plan to make Sakura fight. I also planned to make this a longer chapter but Im not very good at stuffers like that. So review, plz, and I want the truth! Nyahaha!   
-Kounouri-Chan 


	2. Shinzue's Maze

DISCLAIMER: I dun own Naruto . The only character(s) I own in this story are Kounouri Oyasume , Natsume Shinzue and Narumi Katiyou. If In any way, this character or characters resembles any other living person or character; please notify me and I will change it. Please don't sue.   
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The six Genin stood, stupified, ad the Wind Country ANBU team towered in front of them, their faces sullen and worn. Kakashi's eyes were closed, and his arms were crossed. He seemed to be in thought, and then the silence was broken. "Nani wa..." All ninja simulaneously thought, and Hinata asked "What's going on?"   
  
Kiba gulped, extremely out of character. His face was pale, and He whispered over to Hinata. "Oyasume... Is suspected of being a member of a mass conspiracy... The leader even..." The ANBU leader took over. "Responsible for almost 20 deaths, all by nin-jitsu techniques. this is a very serious matter." He turned to Kakashi and paused, before asking "I expect you told them of the letter...." Kakashi shook his head, his eyes still closed. The ANBU leader sighed and turned back to the Genin. "We suspect the head of this conspiracy is a man named Narumi Katiyou. One of the main suspects involved is a ninja, like Oyasume, A respected one at that, Natsume Shinzue." Again, the ninja sighed. He gestured to the people behind him and they got to moving right away. The began to place items in front of the ninja, and when they were finished, Kakashi finally spoke. "Stakeout. Get ready."   
  
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The Konohagakura Genin leaped to tree after tree and finally saw a faint glow of light below them. It was filtering out through the window of a small house, presumably Shinzue's. Sakura looked down and gulped, nodding to her team members. The ninja, in pairs of two and one single-man team, Kiba, lept up and surrounded the house. A mixture of voices could be heard through the static of the communication equipment, and finally a few words were understandable. "Team A, check, team B." Sasuke's voice was clearer now, and he looked over to Sakura and nodded. "Team B, check, Team C." Kiba's disgruntled voice came through and a yip of approval was sounded on Akamaru's part. Next came Shino's voice, and Hinata's. "Team C, Check, Team D." Kakashi and Naruto answered. "All teams check, Launch mission." And they were of. Teams C&B Points 1, Rather, Naruto and Hinata, Were to be on watchout, switching points from one tree to another. Points 2 stayed stationary, facing across from each other. Shino And Kakashi, (Points 2, Teams C&B) Were on direct line communication. Teams A&D, Both Points 1 & 2, Were to land and enter Natsume Shinzues house. A nod of approval passed between Kiba , Sasuke, and Sakura, and then ninjas began. One by one, The ninja entered, and the lines between the inner teams went dead.   
  
Sakura's mouth dropped open, and she marvelled at what she saw in front of her. "It's a maze! And a big one at that!" Sasuke grinned and His eyes turned red with the Sharingan Jitsu. "A simple illusion technique." He led them through the illusion, and both Sakura and Kiba grinned as the scene played itself out before them. Underneath his breath, Kiba spoke in anticipation. "So they were expecting us." Suddenly, Kiba reached out and held the two back. He gestured for them to stay silent, and nodded for Sakura to put an invisibility jitsu over them. He signalled for them to spread out and the three ninja sped to a triangle formation, surrounding an inner destination. Sakura pulled out her kunai, and Sasuke loaded his fingers with Shuriken. Kiba grinned and poised ready, as they heard a shout and the "Maze" Disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kiba was the first to go and ran headlong at the ninja, still unidentified. They weren't going to wait. He flipped closer and pulled at the ninja's arm, spinning him round and wrapping his arm around the ninja's neck. Sasuke came under and spun his leg around, knocking the balance out. Sakura threw her Kunai at Him and Sasuke passed her the Shuriken to follow up. As soon as Sakura's weapons hit the "ninja" , Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled back. The replacement landed on the ground with a rush of sound, and all the ninjas stood dumfounded.   
  
There was a sound. A scream. Her own. Sakura's mind felt swarmed and racing, but it was moving slowly and unconventionally. She'd been captured. She looked up to see Not Shinzue, but a man.She reached for a Kunai and slashed at his arm, spinning out of the way. [[Training PAYS OFF!]] Inner Sakura yelled as she spun through the air, only to land back into the arms of the same ninja.   
  
Sasuke saw all this, his Sharingan in motion, watching the movements of the ninja. 'It's hopeless'. He thought. 'He's too fast... He must have trained in Tai-jitsu, Nin-jitsu AND gen-jitsu.' But his body wouldn't let him give up. He fought his way over to the moving ninja, who was making his way out of the building. He ran, but it was like a dream. His movements were slow and his vision was blurred. 'Fuck' He thought, as he blacked out. 'Too much chakra..' His last vision was of Sakura. Their eye's met, and her expression read not pain or fear, but anger. At herself. Sasuke struggled, but all his jitsus let go. He passed out and heard the thundering of footsteps and a yell, probably Kiba attacking at the ninja. He heard a door slam.  
  
Kiba panted, his energy still high, though he was exhausted. He'd seen the ninja, he'd been so close. So close. He almost had him, and the damn door... He looked over to the door, which was pelted with projectiles. Kunais, Shurikens, the works. "So damn close!" He went and picked up Sasuke, Dragging him outside. He looked up, and the connection between him and the other ninja opened.   
"They got her!" He yelled, anger welting through him.  
"I saw. Naruto! Kakashi! Hinata! Go after her! Kiba, you follow behind. Your energy is low. I will stay here with Sasuke just in case one of them comes back." Shino's unfamiliar courage took over and he was the head of the show. Kakashi didn't object and the four active ninja lept towards the direction that Sakura and her capturer had been going.   
  
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Sakura felt pain surge through her as the door slammed behind them. She saw the widening eyes of her team-mates, even Kakashi. But she didn't take heed of them. Few images ran through her mind. Sasuke's look. Her capture. She door closing. Over and over. Finally her mind began to work again and She became aware of her situation. Her anger rised at herself and she kicked at the balance of the ninja, flipping out of his arms. She landed and spun at him, knocking him over. She stabbed at his hand with her kunai and took a good look over him. He grinned and puffed away before she could see any features. She now knew who he was, because a familiar sound overtook her. Sand. Sand, falling from the replacement. A Kunai was held up to her throat and she pulled at it, spinning round and flipping the figure over, cutting her hand. It was worthless though, he only landed on his feet. "Gaara!" Sakura called out and slashed at the figure. He flipped back and dragged his feet across the bark of the tree as a brake. His face stayed unreadable and He cast a familiar jitsu on her, Desert Coffin. The sand was closing in on her. "This is the end. I know it is. The end." She wasted her breath on talking, no longer fighting to survive. there was pressure on her skin now, and she was having trouble getting air in and out of her.  
  
*~* FLASHBACK *~*   
Shino watched as Sasuke woke up. He instantly stood up, his strength regained easily. "Where is she? Did Kiba get her?" His eyes shone with anger and anticipation, eagerness to fight. Shino shook his head and explained about the other ninja. Sasuke wanted to go after her, but Shino refused. he turned around to grap the headset that had fallen from Sakura. When he turned back, Sasuke was gone. he sighed an watched leaves around him move back into place. He leapt up behind the Uchiha and followed him.   
"So this is the family determination..."   
There was a yell from the trees ahead of them, and the blur of their scenery slowed.   
"Gaara!"  
*~* END FLASHBACK *~*   
  
Sasuke instinctively threw shurikens at the figure. He watched as a familiar scene played itself out before him. Desert coffin. He pulled out his Kunai and ripped though the seal, playing no success as the sand replaced itself. He kept trying. "SAKURA!" he yelled, flipping around instinctively every time the presence around him came to close. He breathed heavily and coughed, blood dripping out of his mouth. Shino was right. He was weak.   
  
Shino saw all of this and played over his thoughts. He realized his only way out of the situation was to run, but his only way to run was to get Sasuke to stop killing himself. The only way to do that was to get Sakura out of the seal. He looked around for something to help him figure it out and Saw that Gaara's hands were still in a seal. 'So.. He has to hold the seal the whole time?' Shino called apon his main allies. The leaves above Gaara moved. Tiny bugs fell from the branches and the red-haired ninja stayed unfazed. They were now crawling all over him, biting and stinging. 'It's not working...' Shino thought and came apon a last resort. He spun up and landed twisting out his hand and knocking the seal slightly out of position. The sand around Sakura faltered and Sasuke realized what his ally was doing.   
  
'I don't have much time...' he thought and turned back to Sakura, only to find her gone. He saw a familiar figure leaping away and grabbed Shino, dragging him after Naruto. "HURRY!" He yelled forward. Gaara was not far behind them, and gaining fast. Shino was close ahead of him, and faltered, slowing them both down. To his surprise, Gaara lept straight after them and kept after Naruto. 'Oh shit..' Sasuke thought. 'Naruto can't win against him!'  
  
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A/N- Oh yeah, Another wonderful break in my writer's block... I had more planned for this chapter, but it just doesn't fit in to the way this one's working out... so yeah. A bit of a dramatic scene next chapter.   
In answer to some of your reviews (Thanks a bunch, by the way!),   
Kyyubi- Yea, i know, Naruto never does get the girl. I'm trying to work out something... I thought about that too. I don't like the Idea of Naru/Hina though... not right now anyways... I might just have something up my sleeve, though, if you don't mind Shonen-Ai.... O.o;; You know what that means... well, no you don't. Here's a hint: The Sasu/Saku, is staying BOTH SIDED!! yeah, that's right, maybe some One-sided SasuNaru but no further than that, and then yes, I am hoping Naruto will get someone... whether it be a girl or not.   
  
PREVIEW FOR NEXT CHAPTER:   
  
"I Don't need your help, Sasuke!"   
  
Naruto fights for his life and Sakura's, and fights mentally against Sasuke for his pride and his recognition.   
  
Thanks To:  
Naruto Soundtrack, for the break in my writer's block!  
Onii-san (Veggie)- For my inspiration to write  
Tom - For waking me up an keeping this story going  
Kyuubi - For a great story Idea  
Kishimoto Masashi - For NARUTO! 


	3. Leafnin Camp

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The only characters I do own are Kounouri Oyasume, Natsume Shinzue and Narumi Katiyou. If any of these characters resemble a living person or a character not owned by me, please notify me and I will change it. Any other characters in this story are owned by Kishimoto Masashi and are published by Shuiesha. Please don't sue me.  
  
If Only, A Vision Of Beauty Chapter Three - Leaf-nin Camp   
The early morning darkness slowly began to fade as the sun crawled up the horizon over Konohagakure. The birds began to call and the villiagers woke up, one by one. Nara Shikamaru walked lazily down the lane, his eyes half open. 'Damn Hokage-sama for getting us up this early, It's not like HE'S our cell leader. How troublesome.' He thought to himself. Still, he kept walking. A mission was a mission, be it troublesome or not. Shikamaru raised his head at the coming of other sounds. A few feet down the road, Yanamaka Ino was quietly closing her door. At the sight of him, She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.   
'It's too early for this..' She thought, and walked slowly, expecting Shikamaru to start complaining. To her surprise, he kept walking ahead, without even waving. This angered her.  
  
So she walked faster.   
  
So did he.  
  
And then she jogged.  
  
So did he.  
  
And then she ran.   
  
But he didn't. 'HAHA!' Ino thought, sticking her tongue out to him while she looked back. he grinned, and she slammed into Akimichi Chouji, who dropped his chips. While he was staring downwards and hurrying to pick them up within five seconds, Ino was standing up and glaring at him. She dragged him away from the chips, and had difficulty at that, as he was extremely heavy.   
  
The Hokage watched all of this from his perch overlooking the villiage. He sighed and made his way to the building where they assigned the missions. Hopefully those three Genin could start acting serious in Wind country, or they'd all be dead and he'd have to waste more ninja on this mission. The only reason he agreed to send his ninja in instead of KazeKage's was because of the treaty. Damn that treaty.   
  
So here he was, dragging three more of his skilled Genin into the mission. Before he knew it, he'd be sending GAI'S team in! The Hokage sighed and took his seat as various ninja walked in, waiting to be assigned missions. Almost three times, he'd been about to assign the Sand mission to Chuunin, but he knew it'd only turn out bad. The ninja had to be the same level or it'd never work. That's when Gai and his team walked in. It was worth a chuckle, to see that team strutting around.   
  
First, Gai walked in with a stupid smile plastered on his face, and two inches behind him came Rock Lee, drooling and doing everything Gai did. Hyuuga Neji seemed unaware of the two ahead of him, and walked in proudly, quiet and athority-like. Then, Tenten walked in. She stayed quiet and watched her team with a tiny grin on her face, supposedly the only one on her team with common sense. But, you had to admit, they were excellent ninja. Hokage read over his scrolls and assigned Gai's team a daily mission, escorting a lady to the Wind country border. The team walked over to the side of the room to wait for their escortee.   
  
Then, finally, Asuma walked in with his team. Ino had a weird glare on her face, like she had been corrected or insulted. Shikamaru was grinning, obviously the one who'd given Ino her glare. Chouji, of course, was eating. Asuma walked up to the table, cutting line, and grabbed his mission scroll. He read it over and shifted the cigarrette in his mouth.   
"Kaze Country, eh? Let's see...." He sighed. "Ah, the mission Kurenai's team is on. Why didn't she go, anyways?" Hokage ignored his question and shooed him off, noticing that Gai had heard. But it was too late, the self-obsessed jounin was already there and rubbing Hokage's head, shifting his hat. "Isn't Kakashi on that mission, too? Well, why don't we go? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have four extra people tagging along, would it?" Gai's answer came in glares from both Hokage and Asuma. "No!" they said. Again, it was too late. Gai had already called his Genin over and dragged the other team out of the building, leaving their assigned mission behind. The Hokage sighed and straightened his headgear.  
  
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Lee skipped behind his Idol and hummed to himself, unusually hyper. Even for him. Neji still walked proudly, looking almost conceited. Tenten, again, was the only one who found any amusement in her team members. Team 10 followed behind them, Asuma apperently in his own world as his Genin trudged behind. They were nearing the edge of town, and Hokage had granted Kurenai permission to meet up with her team. So Kurenai was with them too. It was only a few Kilometres until the Wind Country border, and after that it would only be an hour's walk to the Leaf-Nin camp. So the ninja trudged on. It was still early morning, and the dew was just disappearing off the grass. For the first time all morning, the group was silent of Ino's grumblings, Chouji's crunching, and Shikamaru's complaining. Gai's cell was relatively quiet.   
  
Suddenly, Shikamaru's mood changed. He sensed a sudden change in emotion from one of his surrounding affiliates. He looked around, scanning over the expressions of everyone he saw. Lee, Gai, Neji.. all the same. Tenten, Kurenai, Asuma.... Shikamaru sighed. Chouji.. fine... His eyes rested on Ino. She was still fine... but at that moment Shikamaru realized that HE was the one feeling so depressed. Ino's hair glowed in the rising sunlight. Time for Shikamaru slowed down, Sound became echoes. Something made Ino laugh, and her face brightened. She turned around and saw Shikamaru staring at her. The world moved faster and everything switched back to normal. She glared at him. His heart was tearing as he glared back and turned away. His pace slowed and his awareness dulled. She hated him. He winced as he thought the truth. Slowly, he regained his composure and kept going.   
  
By noon, the group of ninja had reached the Leaf-nin camp. It was empty. The stakeout equipment was gone. A route map was pinned to a board and Asuma walked up to grab it. His brow furrowed.   
  
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The sun was rising. All the ninja noticed it. Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, Shino, and Sakura. All. Sakura was just opening her eyes, and was in Naruto's arms, being carried over branches and through leaves. behind her, she saw Sasuke and Shino, running to catch up. Her ears kicked in.  
"NARUTO! GET BACK HERE! YOU'LL NEVER BEAT GAARA!" Sasuke was screaming. Odd, she thought, that Sasuke yelled so loud, or even yelled in the first place. Naruto stopped for a moment to catch his breath. That was when Sakura saw Gaara. He was catching up with them, and fast.   
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed. He voice rasped out and she coughed, and felt herself being pulled away by Naruto. He lept up, set her down, and landed again to face Gaara. The red-haired boy faced him with a straight look. It was an evil look, really... a mixture of confidence, determination and pure killing intent. No fear, no regret. Shino and Sasuke could still be heard yelling in the background. Sakura's vision began to blur again, her exhaustion kicked in. She strived to stay awake, she wouldn't get caught again. But her eyes were wavering their way shut. A figure appeared over her, who she recognized as Kakashi. His arm was badly cut up, and his forehead protector was pulled up. He looked down at the fight, and her last hearing was of his voice. She couldn't make out the words as sleep was about to consume her.   
  
Naruto was fighting exellently. He dodged, stabbed, and slashed with precise timing. His body flew and flowed like water with wings. Hinata watched this with awe as she leaped through the branches, her chakra racing to get out of her body. She hovered above the fight, watching as Naruto slowly lost energy, lost Chakra, lost stamina, lost the fight. Gaara seemed unmoved by it all. He was standing in the same place he had been when the fight began, and it seemed that after fighting four different ninja he was still the same level that he had been at the beginning. So Hinata took a chance. She lept down and let out a yell, loud and clear, even shocking herself. She slashed at Gaara's back and merely hit his sand armour, pulling back and stabbing again, gaping holes through the formation of Sand, Blood and Chakra. She thought things through.  
  
Sand was his chakra, really. All his jitsus involved it. He ate, breathed and probably was sand. 'No' She corrected herself 'Not all sand... part demon.... You're fighting a demon, remember that...' She had created an opening wide enough in his armour and stabbed at his skin. The skin was already healing and the sand was closing in around her arm. There were two choices;   
She could repeateadly do the same thing she was doing, maybe weaken him a bit.  
No, that would never work. She had to somehow get in that armour herself. She slashed again, making it seem like she was still trying. She would have to catch him off gaurd. Under her breath she whispered "Byakugan" and analyzed his armour. Chakra weakens... "THERE!" She shouted, and stabbed, twisting, at the point where the Chakra was weak. A hole gaped and she leaped through, Stabbing at Gaara's chest and twisting. She didn't care about his vital organs now; she had to get out before that hole closed.   
Gaara coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. The armour weakened and Hinata jumped back out, saying "RUN!" as she leaped from the ground to the safety of the trees. From tree to tree, she got farther away from Gaara, and felt it too. Her Chakra was weak... in the rush she'd converted way too much and wasted her stamina. Too late now, she had to get back to camp. The other people on her team were nowhere near, and she could only hope they got out as lucky as she did. Hope.   
  
******************************************************************   
  
Naruto stood and looked as Hinata fought. Her movements swished and swayed, yet she was making no progress. His Chakra was dangerously low. Pretty soon, he'd be dipping into the Fox Demon's reserve. Not good. He saw Hinata's lips move, but heard nothing. There was something awkard about the way she was moving now. Suddenly, there was a gaping hole in Gaara's armour and Hinata leaped through. The armour weakened and she was back out in a flash, Gaara doubled over in pain and anger. She shouted "RUN" and she was off, Kakashi with Sakura in his arms, Shino close behind.   
  
But Gaara was up again. There was no time. Naruto saw Sasuke stand up and poise to fight. His kunai was out and Gaara was glaring at him. Naruto was still on the ground, but stood up shakily. He watched the fight start. Sasuke leaped forward, and slashed across the armour, hoping to hit a weak point. Gaara soon attacked back, creating a series of sand bunshins and sending them after Sasuke.   
  
Naruto lept up and yelled "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JITSU!". he surrounded Gaara with his cloned and moved them forward to attack. The slashed and kicked at his armour, gaping holes through it that quickly swallowed up. Sasuke looked angry and slashed his way through to Gaara, Spinning up and kicking at a weak spot in his armour. In the air, Naruto noticed Sasuke was using his Sharingan. The black haired boy landed and yelled "NARUTO! You are weak! let me fight him, or we'll lose badly!" Sasuke slashed and spin-kicked at Gaara's feet. He flipped over and landed behind him, and stabbed at his back. He lined up a punch to his head and had his hand caught by a strong hand. He winced and pulled up his knee toward's Gaara's chin, but the ninja just grinned and dodged easily, leaping back and spinning around, elbowing Sasuke in the face and slamming him into a nearby tree.  
Naruto took into action and sent his remaining Bunshins after Gaara, pulling a meelee attack. They were easily defeated. Sasuke now winced in pain and yelled "Naruto! There's no hope! Give UP!" His eyes were now, again, normal and deep black, shining over in pain.   
He and leaned his head back against the tree. "Naruto, just give up!"   
  
But the blonde boy was still fighting. He swung his arm around, spinning a Shuriken at Gaara. Gaara simply caught it and grinned, knocking away the second projectile that'd been hidden in the shadow of the first. He spoke, darkly. "Yeah, give up." Naruto persisted, Yelling "Sasuke, Who's dead-last now? I don't take orders from lower ninja. I WON'T LET YOU BEAT ME!" He slashed at Gaara and leaped at him, landing hard as the other ninja spun out of the way. He got right back up and launched a series of Kunai's at Gaara, having them easily dodged and deflected. He grinned.   
In puffs of smoke, seven bunshin appeared out of the Kunai and attacked at Gaara's back. They clung to him, arms wrapped around his limbs and neck. "All my life.." One said... "I've been following people like YOU!" another continued.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
Sasuke grinned. "You okay, DEAD-LAST?"  
  
*switch scene*   
  
Sasuke's face darkened. "What did you just say, Dobe?"  
  
*switch scene*   
  
Sasuke picked up Naruto and leaped out of the way of Haku's weapons.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK END*~*~*~**~*~~  
  
"You HATE ME, Sasuke, And the only reason you SAVE me is to look so much better for all your FANS!" A third Bunshin yelled, and the Real Naruto thought of Sakura.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~**~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sakura, Wanna eat lunch with me, since we're on the same team now?" Naruto asked, his hopes up.   
"No, Naruto, You're annoying." Sakura's face darkened and she walked away, calling "SASUKEEE!! SASUKEEE!!"   
  
*switch scene*   
  
The pink haired girl blushed and looked over at Sasuke.   
"I like... umm... my hobbies are..." She squeaked and continued staring at Sasuke.   
Kakashi sighed and asked "What about you dislikes? What do you hate?"  
"I hate..." The girl grimaced "NARUTO"   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK END*~*~*~*~*   
  
"BUT WHO'S THE COWARD NOW?" A fourth Bunshin slashed at Gaara's neck and knocked him over, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto leaped and grabbed the frozen Sasuke, running away from the temporarily injured enemy. He headed toward camp, all the way bleeding inside from the wave of memories that had hit him in being yelled at by Sasuke. The whole villiage had hated him....   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~FLASHBACK*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"You're a DEMON, Naruto, EVERYBODY hates you. Even Iruka, who wouldn't? You killed his parents." Mizuki glared at Naruto.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*FLASHBACK END*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
And even now that he was a Shinobi, people chose to hate him because he "Wasn't strong" Like Sasuke. "Wasn't brave" Like Sasuke. And what would happen when he BEAT Sasuke?   
  
THEY WOULD REALIZE THEY WERE WRONG.   
  
************************************************************************************  
  
"Gai?!" Kakashi fumed as Kurenai bandaged up his arm. Sakura lay on the ground, bandaged and cared for. Asuma was making a cup of tea for Shino and Shikamaru, as Ino and Tenten socialized. Gai stood, smiling like an idiot, as Lee stood beside him. Neji was staring into the forest. It was an odd sight indeed... The camp was a mess, Kurenai was the only thing holding Kakashi back from stabbing Gai and Then there was the mix of people throughout the tiny clearing... No one seemed to notice though as they were all busy tending to their own things. Kakashi shot one last electrifying glare at Gai before Kurenai pushed him down on the chair, and he sat with a huff. Kurenai was annoyed. obviously, by the two, but kept calm. "There are matters to talk about, you two! There's no time to act like children."   
  
'Personally, though, Gai IS somewhat into himself...' Kurenai thought to herself as two more ninja jumped down from the trees. Naruto landed, his breathing heavy, with Sasuke in his arms. Sasuke had apperently passed out, his Chakra had run out. The jounin quickly worked to get Sasuke taken care of when a question arose.   
  
"Where's Kiba?"   
  
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A/N- I don't know, Where IS Kiba? I haven't quite established that yet... O.o... So yeah... HELP WOULD BE GOOD! This chapter turned out longer than usual, but there was a lot of content I wanted to cover. The story is pretty well planned out except for exact locations and junkers...   
  
I AM EXTREMELY SORRY FOR THE OOC-NESS! VELLY VELLY EBIL OOC-NESS!   
I'm not very good at keeping people in character... I'm trying though.... as for Shino, Asuma, Kurenai, Tenten, Gaara, Neji and Gai's relationship with Kakashi (NOT love-relationship you BAKA! err...you sweet, smart, strong person.... ever notice that a lot of complements start with s?) , I haven't seen much of any of them in the Anime and I havent read past chapter four in the manga so all my knowledge is of character biographies at Narutguide.net.   
  
So onto the thanks--  
Narutguide.net - INFO! INFO! INFO!  
Naruto Soundtrack - inspiration  
Kishimoto Mashashi-Senpai - NARUTO! w00t! *bows down* I am not worthyyyy!  
And if you people would give me reviews, I WOULD ANSWER THEM! 


	4. Kage Ningyou no Jitsu

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. The only characters I own in this story are Kounouri Oyasume, Natsume Shinzue and Narumi Katiyou. If any of these characters resemble a living person or character not created by me, please notify me and I will fix the problem. Please don't sue me.  
  
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Gaara held his neck, waiting for the wound to heal, waiting for the bleeding, the pain, to stop. It took a long time; the boy had hit him hard. But this only made Gaara more angry. When his wound had healed, he was near death. No one had ever caused him to get hurt this badly. Gaara couldn't help but wonder; was it his own self doing? Was he the reason that his guard was let down? Gaara stood, fully regenerated, and closed his eyes, sighing. he had no time to wonder.   
  
  
  
Without opening his eyes, he grinned.   
  
"Temari. Kankuro." He greeted his siblings, as far as greetings went between them. Sighing, they both cam into view. Kankuro eyed his sister and they nodded. Temari closed her fan, which has been blocking Gaara's view of anything below her head. When the view returned, a boy was in her arms. A puppy, of all things, was yipping at Temari's feet, apperently trying to get to the boy. Speaking of which, all conciousness was gone from the boy's face, half covered with a bloodsoaked jacket. His chest rose, shallow breaths, barely alive. Gaara stared at him for a moment, before Kankuro muttered   
  
"Inuzuka Kiba."  
  
  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
Kurenai jumped from branch to branch, the scenery swinging around her in a blur.She could barely sort out her surroundings enough to know that Kiba wasn't there. She constantly kept one hand free, so she could reach for her Kunai if it was needed. Her heart pounded-- this was more serious than it appeared. When it began, it was a simple mission in which her team was to locate a felon for capture.   
  
Easy.  
  
Then they'd captured Sakura, and she'd needed to fight with all she had.   
  
Not so easy.  
  
Then, of all things, Gaara played himself in.  
  
Difficult.  
  
And then a whole conspiracy unravelled.   
  
Kurenai sighed and slowed down, turning her head from side to side, briefing the area. She felt a presence, not strong. The sky was, if possible, darkening.   
  
'It must almost be dawn' Kurenai thought, remembering the famous saying, 'The sky is darkest before dawn'.   
  
Kurenai stopped suddenly. Something was wrong. She took a look around her, the presence was stronger now. She quickly covered herself up, pretending to be exhausted. The red-eyed jounin took this chance to sweep her view across the clearing over which she stood.   
  
A few bushes stood on the edge of the clearing, mixing in with the scenery. She swept her view on. The trees, all seemed perfectly normal. As her gaze moved on, a glimmer of something caught her eye. She moved her head back towards the bushes, noticing a red fluid leaking out from underneath them. She kept on the 'exhausted' act and reached into her pack, 'searching' for something. When she first opened the pack, she grabbed her Kunai and kept swishing through her stuff to make herself look less suspicious to anyone spying. She found a sandwich and covered the Kunai with it, pulling it out and tearing off the wrapper. She gripped the weapon in her hand and swung her arm instinctively, the target for the bushes.   
  
With a 'thud', Kurenai heard the weapon hit the tree behind the bushes. The clearing filled with smoke, and three ninja stood, one bleeding heavily from the leg. A shuriken was sticking to his body, and the ninja seemed unaware. Kurenai assumed these were the ninja that'd inflicted the damage on Kakashi's arm. She worked it out in their head that they must be Jounin to injure Kakashi, and set her position and plan out in her head. She looked afraid, at least to the attackers, and stepped back.   
  
Kurenai took this moment to flip off the branch, launching a few shuriken at the ninja. None of them hit, as she expected, but Kurenai had other things up her sleeve.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Kakashi sighed and walked around the camp, whistling. He stopped dead in his tracks.   
  
"I don't whistle." He told himself, and raised his eyebrow.  
  
"I don't talk to myself either....." He shrugged and starting walking again, the area silent. He sighed and looked around, his view sweeping over the bulletin board in the middle of camp. A lightbulb popped on in his head and he snuck over to Gai's belongings, searching for the black-haired Jounin's nin-identification license. He searched through the folder, reading over the information as he grazed through, looking for the picture.   
  
A Shuriken spun by and hit Gai directly in the forehead.  
  
Well, it hit the picture of Gai that was posted on the bulletin board.   
  
Kakashi had overcome his bored-ness of being left behind to watch camp by stealing a picture of Gai and using it for target practice. He was really getting into it, too. There was an immense amount of puncture holes on the picture now, and as Kakashi went to grab his Shuriken, he grinned. He had made a design on the photo, the medium being puncture holes. There was a broad smiley-face plastered over the image, and Gai had grown devil-like spikes on his head.   
  
As the ninja stood chuckling, the bushes rustled behind him. And eye peeped through the leaves, and followed Kakashi's movements. Blood was trickling down beside the eye, and there were bruises surrounding it. Kakashi apperently noticed, because he took a standstill position and held his shuriken by one of the spikes, ready to fling backward. A breathing sound was heard and the eye raised, you could tell whoever it was was grinning. A person, evidently not a registered ninja by the lack of forehead protector, lept out of the bushes and lunged at Kakashi. In a flurry of grey hair, Kakashi spun around and flung out the Shuriken, calling   
  
"SHURIKEN BUNSHIN NO JITSU!" The projectile weapon multilied and a shower of shurikens rained down on the other person, who, despite the lack of confirmation, obviously knew some nin-jitsu techniques. In a puff of smoke, a log stood where the body had once been and a kunai was on Kakashi's neck. The copy-ninja held up his wrist protector just in time to catch the threatening move with a spark and fended it off. He swirled around and ducked, a lock of hair being cut by a set of razors. Kakashi store on in amazement.   
  
In front of him, a woman stood, her arms bandaged and covered with a spiked strap, which she'd used to graze his hair. She had dark, deep blue eyes and her black hair hung loosely over her face, resting on her shoulders. Around her eyes were black rings, making her gazes more menacing as she penetrated Kakashi with a visual inspection. Her lips formed a small grin, and she rested her hands on her hips.   
  
Kakashi's view swept over the woman, Her dark blue clothing matching her eyes. Her stomach was bandaged like her arms, and she wore netting underneath her skirt, stopping at the wraps of her Weapon holders. She had a one-strapped shirt on, and around her arm, in between two tattos with the kanji for "Evil" and "Ambition", she wore a padded scroll pocket. The wind blew stronger and Kakashi noticed that even the animals were not making sounds. All but the rustling of the leaves on the trees was silent. It was then that Kakashi noticed she did have a forehead protector, wrapped around her neck, stating that she was from Wind country. Kakashi instantly thought of the local ninja which had been accused of murder and realized that here, in front of him, was-  
  
"Natsume Shinzue." The wind-nin introduced herself in a young voice, which reminded Kakashi of the sound-nin, Kin.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Kurenai ran, her body scratched up. The Jounin had been harder than expected, she had to admit, but she'd beaten them. She stopped for a moment, her Chakra wasted, and rubbed her pounding headache.   
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~*~  
  
Kurenai leaped of the tree, slamming a foot-full of chakra into the trunk near her failed projectile attack to repel her enough, landing behind the attack-nin. Or so she thought. She took a blow to the head, a metal arm-guard throwing off her balance. She was disoriented enough to fall, but quickly used her hand to flip back up and face the ninja. As she stood, the blood rushed past her wound and she winced.  
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK END ~*~*~   
  
She looked at her arm, cut and bruised, and applied a bandage to it. Inwardly, she thanked Hinata for making her bring many ointments with her. Even one that countered simple Gen-jitsu curses.   
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~*~  
  
The ninja with the shuriken wound leaped at Kurenai, tearing into her arm with a Kunai, attempting to write in an unrecognizable symbol before she swung him off. In the air, he called out something that sounded like   
  
"Kage Ningyou no Jitsu!" Kurenai's eyes widened.   
  
'Shadow Doll technique? That's forbidden genjitsu!' She was instantly rattled out of her thoughts by the ninja, who was playing his fingers through seals. He was controlling her, that was it.   
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK END ~*~*~   
  
Kurenai winced as she rubbed the ointment over the almost glowing-red wound. She cleared out most of the blood, and when the flow stopped, she inspected the wound. Obviously, the ninja had attempted to write something in her arm, which Kurenai knew was part of the Shadow Doll technique.   
  
'Blood of Katiyou, Ki-' That was all he'd managed to carve in. Kurenai's red eyes widened. "Katiyou??" She ceased restricting her discoveries to her thoughts and said this out loud.   
  
The 'Shadow Doll technique', she remembered from training, was designed to control a person's movements and actions. Whoever cast the gen-jitsu spell had control of the victim, and the jitsu lasted for a long time. Unfortunately, most victims died before they were released. Kurenai sweated in relief. The inscription on her arm was not complete, meaning the jitsu had released early, and even as it was happening was not fully effective. Kurenai had been able to do some things under her own will, and fought inwardly against the curse.   
  
She sighed quietly, knowing that Katiyou had come very close to casting the full jitsu over her. She knew the words of the jitsu familiarly, and spoke them under her breath.  
  
"Blood of ninja, kill thou soul."   
  
She wondered why a ninja- no, he wasn't a registered ninja- person like Katiyou had so much power. He'd obiously been hurt badly by Kakashi, so he couldn't be much higher than the level of Jounin. Kurenai realized that the whole time she'd fought, she'd classified him as a ninja, and her didn't even have a forehead protector to show it. Because he wasn't a ninja.   
  
  
  
Kurenai smirked, thinking 'I need to be more observant'.   
  
  
  
********************************************************************************  
  
Kiba awoke, wincing in pain as he opened his eyes. The sun blinded him and he realized that he was still in the forest. He lept up, and the blood rushed to his head, dizzying him. A calm voice rattled through the air towards him, seemingly deriving from nowhere.  
  
"Sit........."   
  
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A/N - No reviews. But I expected that. Okie, for you people who actually read my story, spread the news:   
  
I have found a person to place with Naruto! THIS STORY IS OFICIALLY.....  
  
GAARA/NARU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cheers from her nonexistent audience*  
  
Sorry for the late update, guys. It took a while because my writer's block just wouldnt let up! X.x  
  
Okie, I was hoping to include some of that this chapter but I am in such a rush to update, because my story is two pages back X.x   
  
Thank you thank you thank you for the TWO PEOPLE who reviewed chap 3! Im sorry, though, but this story's gonna have atleast a little bit of yaoi.... At least it's not SasuNaru, Im sick of that pairing, but Gaara/Naru is growing on me. Most of the story is going to be focused on the fights and the problem, and most of the bits including couplings will be focused on other characters. at least as far as I've planned.  
  
Thanks to:  
  
Naruto episode 33 - for being so damn awesome  
  
Kishimoto Masashi - for Naruto  
  
Naruto Soundtrack- for background music! XD 


	5. Cascading

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The characters in this story are copyrighted @ Kishimoto Masashi. The only characters I own in this story are Narumi Katiyou, Kounouri Oyasume and Natsume Shinzue. If these characters in any way resemble any other character not owned by me or any living person, please notify me and I will fix it. Please don't sue.  
  
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Kiba awoke, wincing in pain as he opened his eyes. The sun blinded him and he realized that he was still in the forest. He lept up, and the blood rushed to his head, dizzying him. A calm voice rattled through the air towards him, seemingly deriving from nowhere.  
  
"Sit........." Kiba spun his head around, looking for the person who'd spoke. The animals were quiet and the only sound was the wind blowing through the leaves.   
  
'Wait...' Kiba thought to himself, his eyes widening.   
  
"There is no wind....." He uttered under his breath. Again, the voice spoke.  
  
"I said sit. You will weaken yourself." The voice was clearer now, and with the fuzzyness of semiconciousness worn away, Kiba could easily figure from where the sound was spoken. He plunged into the bushes and came to a smaller clearing, where there was a makeshift camp set up. Standing in the middle of the midst of the camp was none other than Temari- the daughter of KazeKage and older sister to Kankuro and Gaara. She saw him coming and looked up from the fire, where she'd been making tea. Her expression was blank.  
  
"Sit!" She ordered, and gestured to a bench near the flames. It was then that Kiba realized that his loyal companion, Akamaru, was missing.   
  
"Where's Akamaru?" The quietness of Kiba's voice startled him, even moreso did the strength he needed to talk. His vision swayed a bit and He fell to the bench, instinctively holding his hand to his throbbing head. Temari saw this, and closed her eyes as if in annoyance.   
  
"Your dog..." She gestured towards the tent. "Is currently sniffing through all our belongings. I just left him, no matter how many times I dragged him out he kept going back......"   
  
Kiba stepped into the tent and was pounced by his companion, smothered, more rather. The boy didn't mind, and looked his dog over, checking to see nothing had happened. He remembered the sound of wind and picked up the dog, carrying him out of the tent and going to stand by Temari. He opened his mouth to speak but remembered the previous incedent, and sat down.   
  
"What's with this sound?" He asked, looking around at the branches of the trees. They didn't move.  
  
"Sound?" The pitch of Temari's voice raised, showing her curiousness.  
  
"Yeah... It sounds like there's wind rustling through the leaves.... but they're not moving." Temari's back was turned, and despite this, Kiba could see that she'd stopped whatever she was doing. Her ears perked and she turned her head, looking up inquisitively.   
  
'What is he talking about?' Temari thought, listening. There was no sound, and even the animals were quiet. Then she heard it too. The rustling sound.... Her eyes widened as she observed the unmoving leaves and vines above her. Slowly, realization took over and she lowered her view to the bushes and plants lower to the ground. They were moving.   
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
Kakashi store into the eyes of Shinzue and took up a fighting stance. The woman grinned.   
  
"Hnf. Kakashi... ka?"   
  
Kakashi's visible eye opened slightly wider in shock, and then returned to normal. He pulled his hand into a seal, but didn't get very far as a Kunai flew directly at him. He dodged it easily, of course, even an academy student... no.. LOWER than an academy student, could dodge a single Kunai. That wasn't the intent of Shinzue, though, it was simply to throw his hand off position.  
  
  
  
Suddenly Shinzue lept into action and pulled out a handful of projectiles, launching them and spinning in the air.  
  
"Shuriken Bunshin no Jitsu!" A barracade of shurikens flew towards Kakashi at a great speed. He pulled out his Kunai, placing one between his fingers and fending off most of the weapons. Anything that didn't repel off of his weapons either hit his bodily protectors or were dodged. Kakashi remained unharmed. He ran at Shinzue, his arms crossed up over his shoulders, hands still loaded with Kunai. He slashed at Shinzue with his right and and pulled an uppercut with his left. She punctured his first attack with the spikes attatched to her arm and used that as momentum to push her self out of the path of the uppercut. Kakashi spun around and flung the weapons at her, but they were easily dodged.   
  
Shinzue continued dodging attacks like this, and it was soon evident that the fight was going nowhere.   
  
'Somehow.... I need to lower her chakra...' Kakashi barely had time to think as he cast the replacement technique, avoiding a launch of Nin-needles. He pulled up behind her and formed his hands into seals as he went.   
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~*~   
  
Zabuza placed his hands in a simple seal, and then another. After that, another. This went on, the seals slowly becoming more difficult. Kakashi, at the same time, copied his seals. At last, the two formed, at the same time, a seal. "Bird! Suiton Suiryuudan no Jitsu!" The two ninja spoke, at the very same time. Two summons rose, formed out of water, and spun wround each other in an inticate form of what some would call.... art. It was an art- the art of nin-jitsu.  
  
***Switch Scene***  
  
Kakashi walked back to camp after... err... 'relieving himself' in a nearby clearing. There were often sandy clearings around, an evidential sign that they were moving farther and farther away from the Fire Country border and deeper into the Wind Country. The Desert. The trees were sparse, he noticed, and the ground was always sand. The sound of wind was everlasting.   
  
Despite this, as Kakashi turned unto the leaf-nin camp, he noticed something glimmering nearby. He walked headlong into the bushes and came across yet another clearing, in which there was a large pond. A very large pond, for Wind Country.  
  
~*~*~ FLASHBACK END ~*~*~  
  
Kakashi's hands flew into action. Within a few seconds, His hands stopped and he shouted "Bird! Suiton Suiryuudan no Jitsu!" A summon rose out of the water, just as in Kakashi's memory. Kakashi, at the last moment, lept up and landed high in a tree. A large wave rose up and the summon wrapped itself around Shinzue, swallowing her up and slamming her against a tree as it reclined back to the Oasis pond from which it arrived. Shinzue, knocked unconcious, began to slide down the tree. Kakashi threw a few Kunai at her, one in each hand and then multiple points along the online of her clothing. Kakashi lept from the tree in search of another from his team. He didn't have long.  
  
*******************************************************************************  
  
  
  
Shino and Hinata, unadjusted to the absence of the faithful team member, searched frantically for him. The lept from tree to tree, noticing that the forest was becoming more sandy and sparse. The trees were shrinking.Hinata became worried, and reached into her weapons holster at any sign of unnatural movement or sounds. Finally, the trees became too small to hold their weight and too sparse to offer any protection or cover. Hinata gasped as she looked out beyond her and turned to Shino.   
  
"Sh... Shino-san?" The boy turned to her, his expression grim. He finished her sentence.  
  
"You don't think....."  
  
The two looked out in front of them, amazed at what they saw. She sound of wind that had plagued them all morning hadn't been wind at all. In front of them, a rush of sand was cascading downwards, almost like a waterfall. At the edge of the forest, a cliff stood, over which the sand was falling. Beyond that, there was nothing but desert until, on the horizon, stood the hidden villiage of sand. An unpaved road lead the way to the cliff, where it abruptly stopped. There was a circular area where the sand was packed down tight, like it had been walked or driven over many times. Beside this was the cascade of sand, which oddly, fed into nothing. The sand did not build up, and it did not run out. It was like a cycle of some sort. Somehow, the sand that was pouring down returned to the top, only to fall again. It was the only logical theory.   
  
Shino stared on in amazement for only a moment when a nearby shout stirred him from his daze. Whipping around, He grabbed Hinata's shoulder and dragged her back into the thin forest, leaping towards the sound. The trees flew by and the shouting continued, it became almost repetative. As they neared the sound, words came into form.  
  
"KIIIIIIBA SAAAN!" An obnoxious voice, obvious and loud, penetrated through the forest, stirring some animals and plants. Hinata and Shino stopped above the other ninja and sighed, leaping down beside them.   
  
  
  
Sakura glanced over and saw Shino and Hinata. She was fuming, holding a hand over Naruto's mouth and speaking harshly.   
  
"Naruto! You Baka! Be quiet and don't attract attention!" Naruto struggled out of her grip and stuck his tongue out at her, only to recieve a hard punch to the head.   
  
"Hmph!" Sakura squeaked out and walked up to the other Genin.   
  
"Nani ka?" Sakura inquired, and was inturrupted by Sasuke landing down beside them. He held up a pack, filled with food and overnight supplies.  
  
"Sakura, take this. I went back to camp to get it." He looked at the girl, and she blushed madly. Oddly, very oddly, He blushed (only slightly) as well.   
  
"Ne, Ne, You two, come see this!" Hinata was overly excited, and Shino assumed that she was simply drawn in by the sight they'd just witnessed. The thing that bothered him was the couragousness in her voice. It seemed everyone was acting abnormally.   
  
As the ninja trudged to the edge of the cliff, Sasuke's eyes widened and Sakura's mouth dropped. For a moment, the ninja stood on the high land and stared down, mezmorized by the moement of the sand. It seemed neverending, and all had the temptation the jump down, the feeling that if they did, they would fly.... It had drawn them all to the edge of the cliff when Shino realized something.... Naruto was missing.   
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
  
  
A hand wrapped around Naruto's neck and pulled him into the bushes, as the blond boy squirmed and tried to warn his team mates. They were already too far away, though, and it was too late. Naruto was pushed to the ground hastily and pinned. Above him, inces away from his face, was Gaara. His rimmed eyes poured into him, and his small grin struck fear right through the soul that was Naruto's.   
  
  
  
Inside Gaara's eyes, Naruto saw the emotion that the other boy withheld from the world. He saw the demon that lusted to get out, to kill. He saw the blood that had stained his hands, his very existence. He saw everything that the other person felt. And inside him, an icy feeling crept outwards from his stomach and wrapped around his spine.  
  
Fear.  
  
Anger.  
  
Hate.  
  
Angst.  
  
Pain.  
  
..... Inside Gaara's eyes, Naruto saw everything he went through as a child and still experienced. He saw their shared experiences. He saw... what he saw was a mimic of himself, a replica that had twisted itself to beyond his pain. When Naruto thought that his emotional pain outdid any other's, he had been wrong. His pain only pursued him to the point where he played jokes, and pulled pranks. Gaara's... Gaara's pain followed him everywhere. It plagued him, and it was his own doing that invoked it. Gaara's pain.... It led him to kill.  
  
The red-haired boy saw Naruto staring into him, felt the penetration of his eyes. They were peering into his soul and prying down his emotional barriers. No longer did the other boy fear him, or shake and act like a coward, crumbling at his sight. An understanding leveled itself between the two enemies and Gaara's breathing slowed.  
  
'Why haven't I killed him yet?' The hate-filled boy forced himself to reach for his Kunai, and his hands for the first time in his life trembled. He brought the blade up to Naruto's neck and paused.  
  
Inside himself, his mind no longer lusted to kill. His heart no longer beat for the blood of others. He looked once more at the boy and understood why he'd let his guard down the last time they'd met. He felt, for the first time, fear. It wasn't fear of being killed or hurt.... It was fear....  
  
He leaned further down and dropped the Kunai. His eyes were inches from the other boy's, and his breathing was slow and uneven. He moved closer and closer until- His lips touched against Naruto's and pressed down lightly. His mind pushed him forward, and he licked the other boy's lips, his body requesting entrance. He wasn't in control of himself anymore, it was his body controlling him. The other boy accepted the kiss, and it went on for the next few moments. Finally, when Gaara pulled back, He no longer felt fear....  
  
of rejection.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
A/N- Yeah, I know, that sucked. The transition from Gaara wanting to kill Naruto to kissing him was like "Huh? How did that happen?" Anyways, Please review, I want feedback from another point of view than mine.   
  
Preview for next chapter: "Scattered"  
  
Naruto returns to his team mates with confused feelings and thoughts; while Kiba desperately searches for the reason behind waking up at the Sand-nin camp. A surprise follows, courtesy of Haruno Sakura.  
  
Thanks To:  
  
'Fight Against Fate' By E. Feather - It was reading your story when I got the will to write; and out of that outburst came the Gaara/Naru incedent.  
  
Naruto Soundtrack - Again with the background music.  
  
Kishimoto Masashi - *glomps* You are god!  
  
All my Ex-Friends - You gave me the srtong enough emotion (anger and sadness) to write this chapter so fast  
  
All my readers- For reading this far.  
  
-Kounouri 


	6. Scattered

Before the disclaimer, I'd like to say something. I read a story once, and I don't know who wrote it or what it was called. It was about a girl named Kitsune, who came to Konoha villiage. She met Sasuke- and, well, things happened. That story got a lot of flames, because of the Mary-sue ing. After that, the author removed the story. To that author If you're reading this- Don't get discouraged because of one failed story. You have talent as a writer and to let a few bad reviews get to you is a waste of a good author. Keep going. This chapter is dedicated to you.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. The characters in this story are copyright@ Kishimoto Masashi. The only characters I own in this story are Narumi Katiyou, Kounouri Oyasume and Natsume Shinzue. If these characters in any way resemble another character not owned by me or a living person, please notify me and I will fix it. Please do not sue.  
  
-----------Chapter 6 - "Scattered"------------------------------------------------  
  
  
  
"Ehhh... stupid thorns..." Kankuro walked out of the bushes, holding the carcass of some unidentifyable animal. He tugged one last time and fell free of the bushes, and the leaves stopped moving. He looked around at the two others and squinted his eyes.   
  
"Naani?" Temari sighed and sat down in front of the cooking fire. She took a pan off the fire and placed it on the table. It was filled with boiling water, which she poured into a cup and mixed with a few herbs. She passed it to Kiba, hastily saying "Eat." She took Kankuro and dragged him off to the side, muttering a conversation with him. Kiba, if he'd tried, could have easily heard them, but he felt it not important and looked around the camp as he drank his tea.   
  
'I need to get out of here..' he thought to himself as he spotted the break in the bushes where Kankuro had climbed through. 'But first, I need to figure out how I got here...' he looked over to Temari, who gestured to the animal while talking to Kankuro. He nodded and walked over, picking it up and dragging it to the clearing where Kiba'd woken up not long before. Temari walked over to her seat by the fire and smothered it out, beginning to pack things up.   
  
"What are you doing?" Kiba still was dizzied by talking, but not so much as before. He watched as she hurried around camp, grabbing things like weapons and the such.   
  
"We're leaving." She replied, rolling up her blankets. "For the villiage."  
  
Kiba stood for a few moments and then spoke, an inquiring tone flowing through his voice.   
  
"Am I going?" He followed Temari as she made her way around the camp.  
  
"Yes, and stop following me. Grab your dog and go get Kankuro, He should be done by now."  
  
"Done what?"  
  
"Gutting the meat."  
  
"Oh. Are we going right now?"  
  
"What does it look like? Now GO!"   
  
Kiba grinned and stepped through the bushes, grabbing Akamaru and placeing him on his head.   
  
"Ne, Ne, Kankur-" He stopped, when he saw the greusome sight which played before his eyes. Scattered around the clearing were organs and limbs, Skin hanging in pieces over them.   
  
"Ai, Kankuro! We're going!" He shouted and ran back to the camp, before he gagged.   
  
"Hai!" He heard the other boy shout as he stepped into the clearing.   
  
"He's coming." He muttered as he heard Kankuro walking through the bushes. Temari nodded and stuffed one last thing into a pack, before handing one to Kankuro and one to Kiba and leaping off. She ran through the trees and stopped, looking back.  
  
"Well, are you coming?"   
  
The two boys started off behind her and followed the path she led, which curved and turned a little too much for the weakened Kiba. Kankuro kept pace with him and nodded for Temari to keep going. For the next hour, things went well. Temari always stayed within view of the two, a sign that Kiba was strengthening. At that point she gestured for them to stop and take a break.  
  
"Gaara said he'd meet us here, So he can take your pack, Kiba." She promptly spoke and handed them all sandwhiches, and as they unwrapped their food, Gaara arrived. He stayed silent and took Kiba's pack, as was planned. He didn't eat, and Kiba hadn't expected him to.   
  
  
  
Despite the fact that Kiba didn't know about Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro's involvement in the conspiracy that plagued them, he didn't trust the three. He wondered why they hadn't taken him to his team, and he wondered more how he ended up with them in the first place.  
  
"Ne, ne, Kankuro!"  
  
"Eh?"  
  
"What happpened to me?"   
  
There was a silence, and Kiba at first thought Kankuro hadn't heard him and started to repeat his question.  
  
"What h-"  
  
"I heard you." Kankuro interrupted.  
  
{{A/N: GAH! I'm all out of pumpkin seeds!}}  
  
Another silence followed an Kiba got frustrated.  
  
"Tell me!"   
  
Kankuro sighed and slowed a little.   
  
"I don't know whether you want to know...."  
  
*************************************************************************  
  
Naruto walked out onto the cliff where his team was standing, and his mouth dropped open.  
  
"Sugoooi!" He looked over the falling sand and stared, falling into the example of his fellow ninja.   
  
"Where were you?" Shino asked, being the only to notice that Naruto had only just arrived.   
  
"Eheheh..." Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned stupidly. "I was... umm.. I had to pee...." he coughed and went back to staring at the Sand-Fall.   
  
  
  
For the next few minutes, that was all they did. the few ninja of the team that had recollected themselves chatted for a bit about how something as amazing as a sandfall could even exist, and then got back to their search for Kiba.   
  
"Ano... maybe he got caught by Gaara?" Hinata's timidness had returned with the talk of Kiba's disappearance, and everyone's personalities seemed to return to normal as they walked back to the clearing where Naruto's... err... incident.. occured.   
  
"Well, of course he got caught by someone, because Kiba's not one to get lost. But it couldn't be Gaara, he was fighting us when Kiba went missing. Maybe his affiliates or something." Sakura stated her comment matter-of-factly and the Konoha teens agreed on one option:  
  
Just keep looking.  
  
As they continued to walk, Naruto's thoughts were drawn to his feelings about Gaara. Until that day, Gaara had been viewed to him as an enemy; a threat. He'd never really thought about his sexuality, either. It all came at him so fast that he had no time to think. There was no doubt that Naruto had liked the kiss; and there was no doubt that he did want to do something like that again. But it was his enemy; a boy; who'd kissed him, and until then Naruto would have never even brought up the topic. These thoughts were so confusing.  
  
Did he like Gaara; Did he not? It was a simple question, but the answer expected for it was so complicated that Naruto even stopped yelling for Kiba. Naruto sighed and pulled his attention back to the mission on hand. The problem was; what was it?  
  
When the mission began, Kakashi apperently was to meet the KazeKage and have a stationary mission. This meant that Kakashi and his team would be living in wind country for up to a month; just to study the way the people lived and how it was different from the way of life in Konohagakure. It was a simple stationary socialogy mission; no threat to it. They thought.  
  
The letter had arrived, notifying them of the conspiracy at hand and the risks they'd be taking with the sociology mission. It assinged a second team; Kiba's; to the site. Kurenai was not to come because of the low danger rate of the situation. After that, the ANBU team arrived, and the stakes were risen. They'd told that the sociology mission had never existed; it was all a plan to get them there. At that point, Hokage-sama had sent in Gai and Asuma's teams, along with Kurenai. That was when it got complicated. Gaara seemed to have no reason to be involved with Katiyou, Oyasume or Shinzue.  
  
So now one of their team mates was gone, and there was no telling where he'd went.  
  
Now, Naruto's thoughts were once again dragged back to the kiss with Gaara. He had no more things to work out; he'd figured out the mission, and what he was to do as far as that went. What else could he figure out? He needed help. And he knew one person who just might be able to help him.  
  
"Ne, Ne, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called to ahead of him. Sakura looked behind her and slowed down, letting him catch up.  
  
"What is it?" She asked, a tone of true curiousity in her voice.   
  
"Can I talk to you in private?" Sakura looked at Naruto inquisitively and then nodded.   
  
"Sure." She raised her voice a bit. "Sasuke-kun, We are going to take a break, You keep going and we'll catch up, okay?" Sasuke looked back at her out of the side of his eye and nodded.   
  
"Aa."  
  
Naruto waited for Sasuke to make his way out of earshot and turned back to Sakura.  
  
"Uhh... I was wondering if.. I needed help with.. umm.. could you... uh..." Naruto stuttered, looking for the right words to tell her what had happened.   
  
"What is it that you dragged me back for, Naruto?" She looked at him, A tinge of annoyance playing across her face.   
  
"It's about Gaara." Sakura's eyes widened and she stiffened up.   
  
"What about him?" A silence followed as Naruto worked out the words in his head.  
  
"We... me and him, I mean.. we...we... kissed." He told her the story, about everything. How he'd been caught, and how out of nowhere he'd been kissed, and the thoughts that followed.   
  
"Can you help me? I need to figure this out." Naruto looked up at Sakura, his hands shaking. She wore a blank expression, and if anything she seemed simply shocked. Her mind kicked in and she started talking.  
  
"Well... It could be a trick, but I don't see the thought behind it. He could have easily killed you then and there, and there doesn't seem to be any reason to play you into a trick. Is it that you just don't trust him or don't know if you like him?" She looked him straight in the eye now, and nothing about the way she talked seemed to have been any different than if Naruto had been kissed by a girl.  
  
"Both." Sakura thought for a moment. Her face showed only a thoughtful expression and suddenly her face brightened.   
  
"I have an idea!" She smiled at Naruto.  
  
"What is it?" Naruto was still timid and reluctant after his 'event', and didn't want to talk about it any further.... but he had to know.  
  
"Nevermind that, just be at the sandfall at..... 7:00 tonight." She grinned and ran back up to Sasuke, grabbing his hand as they intertwined their fingers. Naruto stared at this with great suprise; what had happened?  
  
**********************************************************************************  
  
Sasuke felt a familiar hand wrap itself around his. He returned the gesture and looked over at Sakura, a smile crashing it's way through his emotional barriers and reaching his face. Sakura blushed and smiled ecstatically, her unsaid words heard clearly. 'thank you'.  
  
~*~*~*~ FLASHBACK ~*~*~*~  
  
Sakura tapped her foot as she waited for Naruto and Sasuke to return. Ever since Kiba's disappearance, the teams had been switching camp-watch shifts. Hinata and Shino were on one team, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on another, Gai and his team on yet another, Asuma and his on ANOTHER and Kakashi and Kurenai pulling individual teams. Sure, there were a lot of different points, but it was a greater chance of finding him that way.  
  
Sasuke had left Naruto and Sakura to 'go on a walk' as he'd said. His teammates thought of it as odd, he never left his post, but agreed indifferently. Naruto, soon after Sasuke left, decided he'd needed to use the bathroom and lept away from the camp. Sakura assumed he had gotten bored, considering he'd been gone for about 15 minutes now.  
  
Sakura heard footsteps trudging down the path, and turned to see Sasuke. He obviously did not sense a threatening presence, or he would have walked unnoticably. He looked up from his feet to see Sakura staring at him, and fought back the urge to blush. He'd been thinking, all his walk, about her,and had decided to tell her now. Right now.  
  
"Ano... Sakura...." he walked closer to her now, his heart pounding. He closed his eyes for a moment and gulped, sighing and forcing himself forward.   
  
"Ne, what is it, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked at him with attentive eyes, and in the afternoon sunlight, they flickered over with a shine that only Sakura could aquire. It was beauty, what he saw in her, and that's what drove him on. The beauty wasn't all that made him like her, it was her intelligence and detrmination.... he sighed again. This time, it was a release of any nervousness he'd felt. It was a sigh signalling that right then and there was exactly the time. The right time.  
  
He leaned forward and pulled her close to him, looking into her eyes.   
  
" I do like you, Sakura, never doubt it. " Though Sasuke's face registered emotionless, years of barriers against any emotion had caused that, his voice was welled up with truthfulness and admirance. At that very moment, when Sakura was speechless, he leaned in and kissed her.   
  
  
  
It was a short kiss, but nontheless it sparkled and burned itself into their memories. Sakura grinned and wrapped her arms around Sasuke.  
  
"Arigatou."  
  
~*~*~*~ FLASHBACK END ~*~*~*~   
  
So now, as a smile burned down the emotional barriers that years of hate had built, Sasuke could honestly say that he was happy. He sighed contently and looked up at the sky, the beautiful day coming to an end.   
  
"It's almost six, Sakura. We should head back to camp." The team had agreed all to meet back at the camp at that time, where they would build a fire and prepare a meal. After that, they'd have recreational time. It was required on a more-than one night mission, that the ninja have 2 hours free time a day. And this worked it's way into Sakura's plan as she nodded.  
  
*****************************************************************************  
  
Kakashi returned to his camp a few minutes before the arranged time. He had given up on trying to find his team and just waited for them to arrive. He saw Shinzue, still out cold and pinned to the tree. He looked down at her, and jumped down from the tree in which he was sitting as he heard his team members coming up the path. He unpinned Shinzue and laid her down on a cot, covering her with a blanket. He had a pot of water for ramen boiling before his team mates even took their first step onto the camp. As they did, he was in for a surprise.  
  
Sasuke and Sakura were holding hands- And Naruto was quiet.  
  
  
  
The team was quite out of the ordinary. He thought nothing of it. As far as he knew, Sakura liked Sasuke- which was proved- and Naruto liked Sakura- which explained the quietness. That was as far as he knew, though. The real thing was, Naruto's fancyings of Sakura were diminished with the kiss with Gaara- he realized now that the love he had felt for her was one that a friend felt for a friend.  
  
  
  
When they saw Shinzue on the bed- they immediately asked quesions, but as the other ninja arrived, Kakashi became more stubborn and did not answer them. Finally, everyone, noting the absence of Kiba, arrived.  
  
The meager meal had a light mood to it. Despite the failure of finding Kiba; the Konoha team was in high spirits. So it seemed. Kurenai told of meeting Katiyou, but left out the part about Kage Ningyou no Jitsu. Asuma and his team, Ino, Shikamaruo, and Chouji, had apperently covered a lot of ground area and had no obstacles or encounters. Gai's team, Tenten, Lee, and Neji, also had an obstacle-free day. Despite that, they'd moved slowly, as many things were distractive to the bored team. Shino and Hinata told of their meeting with Naruto's cell and the Sandfall. Naruto told of almost everything- note the almost. Only he and Sakura knew of the incident with Gaara.   
  
  
  
Near the end of dinner, Sakura announced that she would be back within a half hour and was going to get some things from the villiage. She left before anyone could protest. The other ninja hung around as the sun set, and by 6:30, Naruto had already headed out to the Sandfall. Luckily, no one wished to accompany him.   
  
Hinata could not stop thinking about Kiba. She, like Naruto, had realized how she'd felt for him was not true. She wasn't quite sure if she liked Kiba yet, but there was no doubt that she respected him. Eagerly, she waited for the recreational time to pass. At the end of the two hours, she'd ask for a night shift to search for Kiba. She paced around camp, and soon after Naruto left, Sakura arrived.   
  
"Kon'ban wa, Minna-san!" {A/N- "Good evening, everyone!"} Sakura's tone was light, and she shot smiles to anyone that looked at her. She had a bag in hand and walked up to Kakashi, whispering something in his ear. He nodded and she went back to the younger ninja.  
  
"Kakashi-sensei says we can go out onto the sand plain between here and the villiage, I have a surprise for you!"  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Naruto sat on the edge of the cliff, watching the sandfall. For a few minutes now, he'd seen the figures of his team mates walk out onto the sand plain. He waited for 7:00, which was only a few minutes away. He had met Sakura on her way back from the villiage, she'd said just to wait, that all things had gone well. She'd carried a bag, and through it he could not see it's contents. She'd headed back to camp then, smiling.   
  
Now, he watched as what was presumably Sakura and his team mates walk out onto the open plain and take seats.   
  
"Naruto."   
  
Naruto whipped around, only to see Gaara standing behind him, silent as usual. He stared down at the other boy, the usual tinge of hate gone from his eyes. He sat down beside Naruto and looked out onto the sillhouettes of Naruto's friends.  
  
"What are friends like, Naruto?" The question came out of nowhere, and Naruto had no idea how to answer it. He thought about how he'd felt when he was alone, and realized that despite the lonliness he'd convinced himself to feel, he now had friends. Sakura was willing to give him a 'surprise' and Hinata had offered him many ointments when he'd been hurt. He remembered the many times when Sasuke had saved his life, and how him and Shikamaru conversed regularily. He thought about Shino and Kiba, who necessarily weren't his friends, but were one of the few that didn't hate him. He thought so hard for so long that he almost forgot he'd been asked a question.   
  
"It's sort of like.... flying, I guess. You live all your life alone and suddenly you have people there behind you, giving you wings and bringing you upward with them...." He trailed off, feeling he'd addequately described the feeling of friendship.   
  
Gaara was silent for a moment, and then quietly stated  
  
"Aa." Naruto felt a little guilty and pitied the boy. He had no one there for him, no one to love.   
  
"Gaara.... do you feel alone?" Naruto looked over at Gaara, who kept looking into the distance. "Sometimes. I never used to feel anything... but now.." He sighed. "I get so alone...." Naruto looked back up to the stars as they twinkled into view.  
  
"Well.... you don't have to feel that way anymore." It was Gaara's turn to look over at the other boy, and his gaze was returned.  
  
There was a crack, and the boys turned the view to the sky, which was illuminated with sparkles that exploded with color. The raining sparks fell downwards around them, and then the sky was dark again. A few moments later, another explosion, this time green, treated their eyes. Naruto and Gaara stared upwards in awe, Naruto's blue eyes twinkling at the light show.  
  
"Fireworks... that was her surprise..." Naruto whispered this under his breath and smiled. His feelings were clear now. He turned back to Gaara, and spoke the words clearly.   
  
"You don't have to feel alone anymore, You have me." He hugged the other boy, who in turn put his arm around Naruto's shoulders. The figures down in the plain were lit up, and they waved sparklers in the air with laughs and cheers.   
  
Gaara, for the first time in his life, smiled out of simple happiness.  
  
*********************************************************************************  
  
Kiba looked up into the sky. The villiagers' attention was caught with the loud explosions of colour, and as they dropped their responsibilities in awe to watch the display, Kiba started running. Akamaru trailed quick behind him, and both ignored Temari and Kankuro's shouts.  
  
"Kiba!" Was all they could yell, and to Kiba, it was all echoes. He was going back to his team mates. Behind him, he called  
  
"Ja Ne!" and kept running. He was no longer afraid of the sand-nins, after hearing how he'd arrived at their camp. He panted and kept running, far out of the villiage now. His feet flew towards the source of the firworks, and he didn't feel a thing until he was feet away from his destination.  
  
"Hinata!" He yelled, grabbing the attention of the other ninja who were watching the firworks, set off by Shino. Hinata looked over to her team mate, and saw him bright-eyed and running towards them.   
  
"Kiba!" The cheers ran through the small crowd of ninja as they lit their sparklers in tribute. They were waved in the air, and as Kiba breathed heavily, he couldn't take his eyes off Hinata.  
  
  
  
She was the one thing he had missed throughout the day, the one thing his mind would not stop racing about. Even as he had heard the story of his arrival into the Sand-nin camp, he was ever-dazed into thought of Hinata. Here she was, in front of him. Going along with his loud, spontanious nature, Kiba grinned. He walked closer to Hinata, until he was inches away from her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, Hugging her as tight as he could. He didn't go any farther than that, a hug, but for him, it was enough. The two looked up at the ongoing fireworks, and as their vision moved upwards simultaniously, he saw Sasuke and Sakura sharing a kiss.   
  
Ino saw all this. She saw the kiss between Sakura and Sasuke, and was not broken to the extent she'd imagined she would be. Recently, Shikamaru had shown the intelligence he had potential to hold, and she had not taken heed of it. But here, in the midst of the surprising feelings that were spread through her fellow ninja, She couldn't stop thinking about it. She looked around her at the romantic scene, and could not take her thoughts off the friendship that had grown between her and her teammates. She saw, beyond the fireworks that Shino had Chouji light, a shooting star.  
  
'I wish...' she thought, and before she could finish her thought there was a tap on her shoulder. She saw Shikamaru, standing there, blushing like an idiot. She laughed lightly and smiled at the boy, as she saw a firefly fly between their faces. There was an understanding, and she reached out to grab Shikamaru's hand.   
  
The scene was surreal. Compliments of Shino, there were now firflies routinely circling the group. All this romance was amazing. Kiba and Hinata... Sakura and Sasuke... Shikamaru and Ino... and the unkown Naruto and Gaara. Chouji, Neji, Tenten, Lee and Shino stood in a group, watching the last firworks blink out, and there was an unspoken love shared between them all as the last light of the fireflies blinked out. It was dark, but it was a welcoming dark. The mood was silently joyful, and Hinata rested her head on Kiba's shoulder as the ninja walked back to their camp.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Kurenai showed the Jounin her markings, and told of the incident with Katiyou. She told of the forbidden jitsu, and the battle she'd had. Kakashi told everyone about Shinzue, and as Gai and Asuma nodded, Kurenai made her way over to check on the knocked-out ninja. Her eyes widened and she called over the other Jounin. She said something quietly to Gai, and he held his thumb up to Shinzue's wrist.   
  
"She's dead." It was all Gai could choke out, and Kurenai pulled off the blanket covering Shinzue's arm. Sure enough, their was the inscription that told of her being controlled.  
  
'Blood of Katiyou, kill thou soul'.   
  
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A/N- Awwz, romance! I know I sort of ruined it with Shinzue's death, but the romantic part sort of had a 'this-story-is-done' mood to it. I had to tell everyone that THIS IS NOT THE END!! Teehee... anyways, I am damn proud of this story so far. Many of you may not like it, but I think it is pretty excellent for my second fanfic. I am so happy, writing is my life, and Naruto is awesome.  
  
As far as time goes, I have no idea when this story takes place. Probably sometime after the second Chuunin exam test, but before Naruto leaves with Jaraiya, maybe? I haven't read the manga, but I've heard a lot through character summaries and junk, so a lot of the stuff that should have happened AFTER this story takes place will be mentioned. Oh well, sort of an AU I guess. So have fun reading ^^;;  
  
Thanks to anyone who reviewed, I'm sorta tired here so I don't remember if anyone actually did review or what they said. Take no offence. As far as the dedication, I will do my best to dedicate most of the chapters after this to someone. I just thought that the flames that author recieved were too mean; she/he didn't deserve flames. I think that it would trample all over any aspiring author like me to get flames like that; no necassarily just one, but multiple situations like that.   
  
Anyways, R&R!   
  
-Kounouri  
  
Thanks to:   
  
CCS 1rst movie theme - For most of the inspiration for this chapter  
  
Sparklers and Fireworks on Victoria's Day - for the rest of the inspiration for this chapter  
  
Tom - For liking my story and keeping me up long enough to write it  
  
My Neighbor, Stephen - For understanding that, although you don't know what it's like to live off writing like I do, and even though it's boring to you, it's really important to me to have someone listen to me about it, like you do. Thanks. 


	7. Kiba's Return

Dedicated to RikkuX, for her story, "You'll Hate Yourself in the End"   
  
-------------~If Only, A Vision Of Beauty~Chapter 7~Kiba's Return~-------------  
  
Gaara and Naruto sat on the cliff's edge long after the others left the desert plain. The faint glow on the horizon emitted from the villiage, and dimly lit up their faces. Naruto's thoughts were lazily dragged to the thought of Gaara's pain, and he let them be. It was something he could freely think about. Nothing to be ashamed of.  
  
"I must go." Gaara's voice returned to monotony and his expression returned to a blank stone. He stood up, holding out a stiff hand to help Naruto up.   
  
"Gaara?" Naruto turned his face from the villiage to Gaara as he said this.  
  
"Aa..?"  
  
"Why do you mask yourself like this?" he swung his hand lightly towards Gaara's face, gesturing to the change in character from 'Gaara' to 'Gaara of the desert'. A small sigh could be heard from Gaara.  
  
"I only feel like being me when I'm with you. I guess it takes a little preparation sometimes." His voice was still unchanging, and as Naruto watched him walk away, he closed his eyes for moments longer than a blink. He turned back towards his camp and dragged hihs fingers across the branches.   
  
He was exhausted, but floating on air. Truly floating. He couldn't help but smiling as he walked back to camp. Everyone- almost everyone, anyways- was in couples. There was Sakura with Sasuke.... Ino with Shikamaru.... Asuma and Kurenai..... Naruto's mouth dropped open. Hinata was with.... Kiba!  
  
"Kiba! You're back!" He ran up to his affiliate.  
  
"Yeah, Temari and Kankuro picked me up." Everyone was silenced. Where there had been chatter, there was now mouths dropped open. Hinata looked up at Kiba.  
  
"Nani?" She spoke quietly, but there was a definite happy tone in her voice, showing through the worry.  
  
"Oh yeah... they told me about that fight....." Everyone stared at him, as he seemed to be insane. "I guess I'd better explain, ne?" A simultaneous nod from the peanut gallery.  
  
"Well...."  
  
*************************************************************  
  
Gaara walked down the path towards his villiage. Inside he was happy- or the closest thing he could get to it- but outside his emotion was a blank stone. Still, the warmness inside of him was something new and exciting, something he'd never felt before. Normally, Gaara would have rather stayed in the dark shadows than walk through his villiage underneath the streetlights. Tonight was an exception, though, and as he walked to his house, he stayed in the pool of light that was Sand Villiage.   
  
When he arrived at his house, he walked in to find the groceries unpacked and his brother and sister sitting on the couch, playing a game of Go.  
  
"Hey Gaara!" Temari was in an unusually light mood, and she shot Gaara a smile. He paused before he reached the stairs, and glanced at her.  
  
"Why are you so happy?" he stared at her, waiting for a reply.  
  
"Didn't you see those fireworks? It made everyone happy!" She beamed, and Gaara forced down a blush.   
  
"Yeah.. I saw them." He continued towards the stairs and trudged up them, avoiding any further conversation. As he climbed the top step, He remembered something. Shouting downstairs, he asked  
  
"Hey Kankuro, where's that Kiba kid?" There was a stutter from the bottom of the steps and Kankuro paused.  
  
"uuhh..... He.. left." Kankuro awaited an angered reply from Gaara, and uneasily glanced at Temari. Instead of the awaited frustration, though, the two only heard a simple  
  
"Oh." The two siblings wore perplexed look. Temari whispered to Kankuro.  
  
"Does Gaara like fireworks or somthing?"   
  
***************************************************************  
  
Kakashi grinned as he pulled the popcorn out of the kettle and sat down beside Kurenai, awaiting he subordinate's story.   
  
"Are you ready NOW, Kakashi?" The impatient Genin inquired. Kakashi looked around him.  
  
"Let's see.... Sake... Popcorn.... Dangos... yep!" Kakashi was sure he heard a muttered   
  
"Finally" as Kiba began. "Well, When I was chasing the guy that took Sakura, which turned out to be Gaara, I was struck from behind. I got knocked out. When I woke up, I was with Temari and Kankuro. What they told me was that I got knocked out by some Shinzue chick. Basically, Gaara only fought you guys because he wanted to get you outta there, he knew that Narumi would've killed ya. Even though that guy comes out as a killing freak, he wanted as many people against Narumi as he could, and he hates that guy so much that he doesn't want him killing anyone. Who the hell knows why a killing freak would hate a killing freak... rivals, maybe?" Kiba took a big breath when he finished, and sat down.   
  
"And this stupid girl that knocked me out made me weak." He cursed.  
  
Kurenai and Asuma glanced at each other. Asuma leaned over and whispered to her.  
  
"Shinzue?" Kurenai nodded.   
  
Although those two Jounin started to get higher spirits because they had as strong a ninja like Gaara,Kakashi was thoroughly disappointed.  
  
"That's ALL?" Kakashi pouted underneath his mask, and some of the younger ninja laughed. Their free time was up, but they had nothing more to do on their mission, so for the rest of the night, all the Konoha ninja stayed up around the fire, talking and laughing.  
  
"OMG! KaKAshi! You are SO not serious!" Sakura would say,  
  
"What's so hard to believe that Iruka's gay?" and Kakashi would nod, soon after receiving a punch from Naruto.   
  
"Don't insult Iruka!"   
  
"Who said calling someone gay was insulting? All the best people are gay." Mistakenly, or so it seemed, Kakashi pointed to himself. Even though everyone knew he was 'kidding', a fit of laughter rang out through the group. The only quiet one was Neji, who was sitting at the edge of camp, looking into the thin cluster of trees that surrounded them. Naruto saw this, and shouted.  
  
"Hey! Neji! Stop being an uptight cockroach and come join the party!" Naruto recieved weird looks for this, and he turned his attention back to Shikamaru, who was the one sending the look.   
  
"Cockroach?"   
  
"Whhaaat? It was the first thing I thought of saying!"   
  
"Don't be stupid, Naruto, you never think." Sasuke grinned, and expertly dodged a tackle.   
  
"SASUKEEEEE!"   
  
As the party grew on, Hinata couldn't stop glancing over to her older cousin. Within an hour, Hinata whispered to Kiba   
  
"I'll be right back" and walked out of his arms to talk to her cousin. As she approached him, she quietly started speaking.  
  
"Neji-san, a-are you ok?" She tapped him on the shoulder and he didn't turn as he spoke.   
  
"I'm fine. Sorry if I don't feel like acting like a baboon." He folded his arms and retreated to his book.  
  
"Sometimes it helps just to have fun, even in the most tough times. It takes your mind off things."   
  
"It's things like that which make people weak. I am surprised that Sasuke was willing to let his guard down." There was a growl in Neji's voice as he spoke of Sasuke, and Hinata sighed, retreating from the light of Neji's flashlight, and heading back to Kiba.   
  
*******NEXT DAY********  
  
It was late in the morning, but the camp was still quiet. Not only had the Konoha ninja not slept in days, but all of them had stayed up extra late.  
  
Even Neji.   
  
He had finally retreated to the firelight, and although he was silent, every now and then he surrendered to a grin. So as he slept in his tent, which he shared with Lee, he was undisturbed.   
  
Suddenly, there was a shout.  
  
"NARUTO!!!!!!!!!!!" Sakura shreiked, and her along with Naruto and Ino shot out of bed.   
  
"Sorry sorry sorry Sakura-chan! I must have came in here instead of my tent on accident! I was tired! EEP! DON'T KILL ME!!!" Naruto ran out of Sakura's tent full speed, and Sakura, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, chased after him. He quickly climbed into his tent, which he shared with Sasuke, and pulled a sleeping Sasuke in front of him as a shield. Sasuke woke up with Naruto's arms around him from behind.  
  
"NARUTO!" He, aswell, chased Naruto out of the tent. Poor Naruto retreated to yet another tent, which happened to be Hinata's and Tentens. He used Hinata as a shield this time, and Kiba, who'd woken up at all the commotion and climbed out of his tent with Shino, tried to kill him after he 'hugged' Hinata.   
  
"HEEELP MEEE KAKAAASHIIIIII-SENSEEEIIIII!!!!!" Naruto screamed, as a horde of Genin followed him. Other than Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura, the rest of the camp joined in either to help their friends or because he'd woken them up. Kurenai and Asuma were down by the sandfall drinking coffee, so they didn't hear Naruto.  
  
Kakashi slept through it all.   
  
When Asuma and Kurenai returned that morning, Naruto lay twitching on the ground, dangerously close to the still-hot ashes of the fire. The rest of the camp was eating breakfast, and even Kakashi had woken eventually. Over breakfast, the camp-members whispered to each other.   
  
"Do you think we should try and wake him?" Hinata asked.  
  
"He's already awake, just in shock." Shino said. Kakashi raised a finger in discovery.  
  
"Pour water on him!"   
  
"Shhh! Kakashi! WHISPER!" Ino stood up and crept to grab a bucket, filling it up in the nearby pond and handing it to Sakura. "Think of it as revenge."   
  
With an evil grin on her face, Sakura tiptoed up to Naruto. She laughed madly as she poured the freezing water all over Naruto. He shot up.  
  
"Ah! I missed breakfast!" He raced to the table and wolfed down the rest of the bacon, seemingly unaware of his current, wet, state. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, where did that chick Shinzue go?"   
  
Kakash glanced uneasily at Kurenai, and she nodded. Taking over, she started by explaining the Kage Ningyou jitsu. She showed everyone her arm.  
  
"He tried to do it on me, but I pulled away so he didn't complete it. When we had Shinzue here, she fell into shock, somewhat like Naruto, and when she rendered unresponsive to Narumi's control, we're gussing he killed her."   
  
The wide eyed ninja looked at her, not believing his ears.   
  
"So what do we do about Narumi, then?" Sasuke cut in, and Kakashi sighed.  
  
"It'd be a felony to kill him, he's from another country and isn't a registered ninja anymore. Unless a ninja kills another REGISTERED ninja, it's still considered murder. So I guess we have to capture him somehow." One thought ran through the minds of all the Konoha ninja, and Neji stated it.  
  
"Gaara."   
  
  
  
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A/N - Short chapter but I NEEDED to update. Badly. R&R!   
  
-Kounouri 


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